Development of light intensity data acquisition system to identify the suitability of soil conservation plants under the stand of Cocoa trees

Abstract

One of the causes of the decline in cocoa productivity is the decreasing quality of land due to erosion. Application of conservation techniques to cocoa land are limited because this plant is an annual plant. One possible conservation technique is to conserve soil through vegetation. The problem in cultivating plants under tree stands is the lack of sunlight intensity because of the shade of canopy plants and protective plants. To determine the level of cover that is suitable for the growth of conservation plants, self-developed tools have been built to measure intensity of the sun light. The sensor used is the NHGH09BU Photosynthetic Active Radiation Sensor. This sensor connected to the Arduino UNO microcontroller module. The result of the test shows that this system can display a pattern of changes in the intensity of sunlight for 24 hours, where data above 300 W / m2 reached at 10.00-14.30, and 0 W / m2 at 16.50 -7.20.

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